Page 108 of Stolen Ones

‘Actually, yes, Mr Harte. You came to us claiming to have all kinds of information, yet you’ve told us nothing, and now you don’t seem able to answer the most basic question posed to you.’

‘Do you have one, Inspector – a question that is?’ asked Kate Swift.

‘I do, Ms Swift. I’d like to know why Mr Harte did and continued to do business with a convicted sex offender.’

Swift deferred to her client.

‘I feel that everyone deserves a second chance,’ he answered.

‘How can you know it was some kind of mistake and not a pattern of behaviour?’

‘I don’t delve into the personal lives of my associates to that degree.’

‘We’re not talking about their favourite takeaway or what football team they support. We’re talking about whether they have sex with underage girls. Minors – children really.’

‘It’s my understanding that Mr Butler has no further convictions for any type of crime, which would lead me to believe it was a mistake.’

Kim wasn’t buying it. ‘Mr Harte, if you are to be believed that you admire and protect all things beautiful, how can you even tolerate the thought of doing business with a man who was convicted of—’

‘In the absence of a question my client can answer, I suggest we move on to—’

‘Mr Harte, did you abduct, kill and bury Lexi Walters at Hawne Park in Halesowen?’

‘No comment,’ he shot back.

‘Okay,’ Kim said, changing tack. Clearly, he was not going to answer any direct questions. ‘You recall a great deal about the cases of missing girls. Do you remember reading about a six-year-old girl named Lexi Walters?’

‘You’ve arrested me for her murder, so I’m assuming you feel I have some kind of connection to her?’

‘Please answer the question. Do you remember reading anything about her?’

‘I think something rings a bell. Pretty little thing if I remember correctly.’

Kim detected stiffening from his solicitor. She obviously disagreed with this line of questioning, but it had worked for her so far. Her perception was that his memory of the incident was his way of cryptically telling her that he was involved. So far he hadn’t slipped up and given her anything she could charge him with, but while he was talking, there was hope. Direct questions were not going to trip him up.

Ms Swift appeared to be fearful of him talking at all.

‘Please tell me what you remember about little Lexi.’

‘If I remember correctly, little Lexi, as you call her, was removed from the care of her neglectful parent during the school summer holidays over twenty years ago.’

‘Abducted,’ Kim corrected. Steven Harte didn’t seem to like the correct wording being used. Especially when it indicated the commission of a crime.

‘Or liberated, some might say.’

‘Liberated means freedom, Mr Harte. I’m not sure being taken by force and from her home and family to be imprisoned in a single room against her will could be called liberating by any stretch of the imagination.’ Kim paused. ‘You think she was kidnapped because her mother spent a little time taking a work call?’

‘I’m sure I read that both her parents were career driven. They both worked exceptionally long hours.’

‘How very awful of them both to try and make a decent life for their family.’

‘I read that she spent more time with nannies and childminders than with her own parents. Such a shame.’

‘It’s a shame she’s dead,’ Kim snapped.

‘It is, and she seemed like such a sweet little girl,’ he said calmly.

Kim felt her fists clenching at his tone. She knew she had to rein in her anger. He was using it to control the course of the conversation.